And Dogbert — nice. Making fun of a man Jam Master Jay (and a group) who dedicated his life to speaking out against violence and was truly loved by his community for being gunned down in a robbery. No, there’s no irony there, because none of the group stood for that, and always spoke against drugs, guns, and violence in their lyrics. So, I don’t see the humor or irony in JMJ’s murder, other than as a man who donated studio time to up-and-coming kids who wanted a way out of the hood, as well as a funder of youth programs in his neighborhood, and who did “keep it real” by DJ-ing and truly enjoying his vocation until the end of his life (he DJ’ed my friend’s wedding just a few months before he was shot, and that friend described him as one of the most humble and truly cool people he’d ever met, as does anyone who has met him, including those who describe him in the documentary about JMJ that DMC made after the murder, and for which he won an EMMY award).

Both alphabet boy and dogbert are being haters. I don’t see how liking an entertainer who is universally recognized as one of the grandfathers of rap is being a “poseur”, but alright.

And yeah, I’m wordy, Alpha Boy, and I also hear I’m a pretty good, albeit admittedly predicable “fuck.” But I do go through all the fly positions.

I guess I shouldn’t be getting all riled up by someone who doesn’t have the balls to sign his own name to what he says.

Flame on — I’m done. The concert was fun, I enjoyed seeing DMC in person, as did everyone else there, who packed the very spacious Hard Rock on a Wednesday night.

Beyond that, hate on RUN DMC all you want. I’ve said my piece.

And I said that given their runaway success with their core audience of black folk well before any rap videos were played on MTV, or their triple-platinum success after they had videos with other famous cultural figures such as Mr. Melman or Aerosmith — to argue that they were indeed NEVER popular is just simply not true.

Hate on them all you want. Say they’re wack or could never rap. I think those are silly things to say, but that’s besides the main point. They WERE WILDLY popular and set trends and laid the groundwork for the success of an entire generation of rappers and hip-hoppers.

As if quoting the names of a few groups any black person who listened to rap before 1987 would know is supposed to be impressive.

I’m not posing anything other than remembering the shit the way it was, and RUN DMC was popular as all fuck. Before Yo! MTV Raps or any of it. And their triple-platinum success AFTER that by definition means they were ACTUALLY popular with all the people paying $12.99 for large pieces of vinyl with RUN DMC’s name on them.

If anything, ABCDEFG, you’re the ultimate hater, since you’re letting your dislike of the group in question totally warp your perception of what was just plain reality. RUN DMC was a worldwide phenomenon, they had street cred from their own community before they went mainstream, and then blew up beyond even their wildest expectations after white folk got on the rap bandwagon, farrrrrr after we black kids were making video mixes off of “Rap City” on BET, which definitely included most of what RUN DMC was putting out.

So spare me the “poseur” lecture and your weak-ass attempt to school somebody in the details of old school rap. You’re playing yourself.

Anyhoo, wasn’t one of the Run-DMC fellers gunned down in the ghet-to not too long ago? That’s the ultimate in “keepin’ it real”.

Adidas (yeah, the one souped up with ultra fat laces) were cool before DMC became popular.

I remember 1988, back when Eric B and Rakim learned to earn, when Nice & Smooth were funky, when Big Daddy Kane and his cohorts (”The Juice Crew” - Masta Ace, Kool G Rap, et al) were rappin in symphony…

But despite their connections, Run DMC always sucked. They were even more laughable when, trying to keep up with trends, they tried going ganksta in the early 90s. LOL.

That’s must be some seriously good dope you’re smoking.

RUN-DMC was “just cool by association or merely nominally cool” — what planet did you come from? Not considered cool by whom? They DEFINED cool when they single-handedly broke rap out of the BET ghetto, were the first to crossover, and to get major corporate sponsorship by virtue of the fact that THEY made Adidas cool, not the other way around.

Black people and anyone who listened to rap before it went mainstream (which was, actually, mostly black people, since MTV wouldn’t play rap videos until the days of RUN-DMC and DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince) knew RUN-DMC was the “King of Rock” well before they had to say it. And people lost their minds with “It’s Tricky” and the helicopter with the purple velvet interior. Or you think Mr. Melman (whom you probably don’t remember and I don’t care to explain), Aerosmith, and Penn & Teller would just show up in their videos for no reason?

Sorry, dude — they were and are cool. Yeah, now their rhymes sound “elementary” but only because rap’s progressed since then. Yet, at the time, their sound was harder-edged and totally brought rap up to a cooler higher, adult level than when it was truly more silly rhymes made over breakdance beats a la The Sugarhill Gang. It’s simply evolution. RUN-DMC’s album “Raising Hell” went triple platinum and was simply the shiznit at the time. You are seriously smoking crack.

And when that monster tour in 1988 went around — from Public Enemy to NWA to KRS-1 to RUN DMC to jeezus, like everyone — RUN DMC was king of the hill. That tour simply blew the mind’s, and all the kids in my school wearing Adidas and rocking the gold chain — the veritable symbol of the rapper — have RUN DMC to thank for that.

So, for better or worse, whether you like them or not, the idea that they weren’t “actually” ever cool, or had minimal influence, is the result of being alternatively addle-brained, a crack-smoker, or seriously too young to remember and needs to stop talking out of their ass.

Netizen Kim,

“Mongol” is not the first movie about Ghenghis Khan played by real Asian actors. The Japanese did a film about him a couple of years ago (”The Blue Wolf: To The Ends of Earth”). I took an interest in the latter film because of the fact that it also stars Go Ara, a Korean actress. Also, somewhat ironically, the Japanese actor, Tadanobu Asano (”Ichi The Killer”), who plays Ghenghis Khan in “Mongol” is actually 1/4 white.

jd,

Your argument would have some meaning if not for the fact that the stereotype holds for Japanese ESL teachers as well. Ever see Captain Charmisma cartoons about ESL teachers in Japan? Everything ever said about ESL teachers here by pawi are represented well by those cartoons — and they are made by a former ESL teacher who worked in Japan, no less. Go here for more info:

http://www.karatethejapanesewa.....a_man.html